A Heartless Christmas
by Clair De Lune Reves
Summary: It's been shown how the Organization spends their Christmas, but what of their Heartless counterparts? What's Christmas like over at the End of the Worlds, especially now that they have their new captives Riku and Kairi with them? Unpredictable of course!
1. Trouble

Author's Note: About a year and a half ago, my dear Ghost, and I started a project that we would soon come to call simply the "Heartless Project." We thought, "What if Xehanort wasn't the only one who become a Nobody _and_ a Heartless? What if the entire Organization had Heartless, just like Xehanort's Heartless, or Ansem as we still call him. (Screw Ansem the Wise, he's DiZ, end of story.) And so, we began to create their Heartless, something that we're still working on to this day. This story was written a year ago, Christmas 2008, and was the first time the Heartless had been used in a story. As you can tell, we hadn't created everyone's Heartless yet, and most of the ones found in this story have changed drastically and been redesigned over the past year. But this story will forever remain the first story with the Heartless, and Ghost, has asked me to post it for everyone, and so I am. There will be much more with the Heartless to come, in fact I'm working on a huge project story with them now. Any questions concerning them will be answered in that story, as it is their personal tale. But this is their official announcement, and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Asi was used to being faced with problems brought on by other people. He had become used to it the very day he had become his Master's right-hand man, which hadn't been long after he arrived at the End of the Worlds. He took a sort of sense of pride that they had to come to him to solve their problems, using it to remind them that he was above them, just as he should be. The one thing Asi had never anticipated was the problems that he had been facing recently.

No, most of his recent problems had nothing to do with the Heartless at all, or the Nobodies, for that matter. All the problems Asi had been dealing with for the last few months all seemed to be brought on, to put it quite simply, by The Girl.

How one small girl could cause so many problems, the Guardian would never know. He did know that The Girl was a Hell of a lot more trouble than she was worth, as he had told his Master immediately after he had brought her there. Ansem had only laughed at him, and then informed him that it was now his duty to protect The Girl. Asi hadn't been happy at all. And more than that, he hadn't consented without a fight.

He had begged, threatened, given his most pitiful looks, and when all that had failed, Asi had resorted to what he knew best, and simply tried to seduce his way out of it. The next morning Ansem had smiled as he left the room, saying simply:

"You still have to watch her."

Asi had been furious then.

So he had given up, and finally agreed to watch The Girl. That's when his troubles had begun. He had never met another living soul who could get themselves in the trouble The Girl seemed to. She could be found being kidnapped by Riku in a rescue attempt one minute, then hanging off the edge of a balcony courtesy of Arlene the next! Needless to say, the Guardian wasn't at all fond of having this Girl constantly under his care. But that didn't matter, because Asi had been told to protect her, and he would do as his Master wished for him too. No matter how much he hated it.

That's why he couldn't say he was that surprised on the day in question, when The Girl had once again posed a problem to him. The only difference was that he hadn't been expecting this particular problem at all.

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, it's about a month away! So, what are we going to do for it?"

The Girl, Kairi, Asi mentally reminded himself, stood before him, smiling an innocent smile, one Asi would have believed if he didn't know better.

"We don't, celebrate Christmas…"

The Girl's face fell, as she looked at him in shock.

"You don't celebrate Christmas? But why not!? It's a fun time of year! I remember me, Sora, and Riku used to have a blast! We would always…"

But Asi wasn't listening anymore, too lost in his own thoughts. He had never really thought about Christmas since losing his heart, and never even realized that it was Christmas time. Now that he thought about it though, he saw that he hadn't celebrated Christmas ever in this form. The last time he had taken notice of the holiday he had still been Isa, joined with Saïx to form their Somebody. He had liked Christmas, actually… All the music and dancing, and sweets and presents… And romance under the mistletoe. Asi hated admitting that he was just like Saïx, and that he too liked romance… Just not as much, maybe… Or in a way that wasn't as romantic…

"Asi?"

Asi snapped his attention back to The Girl, who was looking at him in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine… So, you liked Christmas, huh?"

The Girl smiled again, nodding happily.

"Yeah, it was always fun!"

"Yeah, I liked it too…"

The Girl sighed dreamily. "It's too bad we can't celebrate it…"

And for the first time ever, Asi realized that he agreed with The Girl.


	2. Pleading

"It's the first day of December." Asi said absentmindedly, as he lay on the bed he shared with his Master, tracing his finger across the pillow.

Ansem waited for him to continue, but finally saw that he wasn't going to, deciding to press the matter further.

"And? What's that signify?"

"Oh, nothing…"

Asi now absentmindedly turned onto his back, looking at the ceiling.

Ansem sighed, putting the papers he had been looking at down. Asi wanted something, he could tell. And it was probably something he'd most likely be told "no" about, which was why he was being so evasive of the matter.

"Are you sure it's nothing?"

Asi nodded, returning to his previous position on his stomach.

Sighing again, Ansem went to the bed, lying beside his Guardian.

"Asi, what do you want?"

"Nothing! I never said I wanted anything…"

"You might as well have."

Asi turned to look at him then, his eyes as pitiful as he could make them.

"Can we celebrate Christmas?"

That was certainly unexpected.

"Christmas? Why would we do that?"

"Because it's what you do at Christmas."

"But we never have before. You've never even cared before."

"I've never thought about it before! But The Girl brought it up today and she's right!"

"Kairi."

"Who?"

Ansem sighed, shaking his head.

"So, she wants to celebrate Christmas, and now you want to?"

"Yes, now that I realize that she's right, and we never do. It would be fun, wouldn't it? To decorate the World, and the younger Heartless would really like it! It'd be like a party! A month long party!"

Ansem tried to take his eyes off of Asi's begging gaze, but it was hard to. Asi was very skilled in getting what he wanted, as Ansem had found out early on.

"Asi, if we do this, then I'm putting you in charge of it. And you can't just make everyone celebrate it. Only the ones who want to…"

Asi nodded vigorously.

"And by those who want to, that does not include me."

Asi nodded again.

"Then against my better judgment, you can celebrate Christmas."

Asi actually cried out in joy at that, hugging his Master and snuggling to him.

"Thank you! Wait till I tell The Girl! She'll be so excited!"

"Kairi…"

But Asi wasn't listening, to busy planning the things they would do for Christmas, lost in a fantasy he had forgotten years ago.


	3. Recruitments

The Girl's eyes were large as she stared up at Asi, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

"You mean, we're going to have Christmas!?"

Asi nodded to her, suddenly finding that The Girl had jumped up and hugged him. For once though, he was so happy that he didn't complain, so he let her. He hadn't realized how much he really did miss Christmas.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! This will be so much fun! I can actually see a traditional tree for once! All we ever had were palm trees, and those are very hard to decorate!"

The Girl smiled up at him, looking innocent and cute as ever.

"Of course, and we have to get started soon too, so everything will be done in time. We have to see who else wants to help too."

The Girl's face fell a little.

"The others are going to help?"

"Well, if any of them want to."

"We're not asking Dyme, are we?"

"Of course we are!"

The Girl had to be delusional. Dyme was like Asi's son, there'd be no way he wouldn't ask him. There was really no help for this girl…

They left then, setting out to find all the others. They found Ale and Li Amaru first, Ale talking happily while Li Amaru listened.

The Girl had happily waved to both of them.

"Do you two want to help us celebrate Christmas!?"

Both of them turned to look at them, confused expressions on their faces.

"Christmas?" Li Amaru asked. "We never celebrate Christmas though."

"Well, this year we are." Asi told him, The Girl nodding beside him.

"How?" Ale asked, his eyes gleaming.

"She brought up that we don't celebrate it anymore, so I asked Master if we could, and so now we are. We were wondering who all wanted to help us."

"I will!" Ale was up in an instant, looking happier than usual, which was a feat.

"Well, I guess I could…" Li Amaru looked down, not sure if he should offer his help or not. He knew that this Christmas would either turn out really good, or really bad, and he didn't want to think about if he were the reason it turned really bad…

"Oh, come on, Li Amaru, it'll be fun!" Ale grabbed one of his hands, jumping up and down, trying to mentally pull him into their group.

"Yeah, we'll get to decorate and cook, and give presents!"

"Presents?"

Everyone looked up as Dyme entered the room, Riku beside him, both looking as they had just had a fight to the death, but both living. This last part seemed to have upset both of them greatly.

"What presents?"

"We're celebrating Christmas!" Ale happily told him, still holding onto Li Amaru's hand in hopes he'd decide to help.

"So, you mean, decorations, tree, presents, the whole shebang?"

Asi and The Girl both nodded, Dyme tilting his head in thought.

"Oh, come on, Dyme, it'll be fun!"

The Girl was making a similar plead with Riku.

"We used to have fun on the island, remember!"

Dyme's eyes were gleaming mischievously, but Riku looked more like Li Amaru.

But finally, Riku sighed.

"If you want to celebrate it, Kairi, then I'll celebrate it with you."

The Girl jumped up and clapped, running over and hugging her friend.

"Great, it will be so much fun!"

"Yeah, fun…" Riku looked like there was no such thing as fun at the End of the Worlds, making Asi smirk. If the boy would just surrender to the Darkness his life would be so much easier. These kids were pretty foolish, in his opinion.

"Come on, Dyme, Li Amaru…" Ale was looking at both of them desperately, until finally Li Amaru shook his head.

"I have a bad feeling against this, and I'll probably only mess everything up for all of you, but sure, I'll celebrate Christmas with you."

Ale hugged him, smiling happily, before turning to Dyme.

"Will you celebrate it with us?"

"Oh, Hell yeah, I'll celebrate it with you. And I'm going to go ahead and tell you all now, I better get the most bitching cool presents that I've ever seen in my life, because I deserve them. Right Asi?"

The boy gave an evil smile, and Asi couldn't help but smile back. As evil as he was, Asi couldn't help but love Dyme. Besides, Asi wasn't all that innocent himself…

"Is anyone else going to help with Christmas?" Ale asked, his eyes gleaming as bright as The Girl's.

"We don't know yet, we have to go ask them." The Girl said, Ale pulling Li Amaru up.

"We'll go ask them for you!"

"We will?"

But Li Amaru found a moment later that he would indeed, for Ale had pulled him into the ground a moment later, The Girl jumping a little, still not quite used to the Heartless' travel methods.

"So, what do we get to do first?" The Girl asked, her eyes shining with her childish nature.

Dyme merely laughed at her question.

"Well, isn't it obvious? You go and get me my presents!"

Riku gave a sharp laugh.

"If I get you anything Dyme, it's going to be the piece of coal you deserve."

Without another word, he walked away, Dyme glaring after him. But a moment later, Dyme had shot off after him, Asi and The Girl hearing the collision a moment later.

"Are we going to have to stop them?" The Girl asked, weariness in her voice, which Asi knew would be in his as well when he spoke.

"No, if they kill each other then that's two less presents we have to worry about. Come on, let's go see where we can find some good decorations."

The Girl smiled, clearly happy about not having to deal with the two boys anymore than she had to, and ran off down the hall to get ready to go shopping. Asi smiled, as he left for his room to get ready as well. If the thing he knew best was seduction, the thing he knew second best was shopping.


	4. The Quest

The instant The Girl and Asi arrived in town, they were both blinded by all the lights that were sparkling on every corner, both blinking a few times, but still gazing around in wonder.

"I didn't know people actually decorated like this…" The Girl said, turning a full circle to see all the sights around her.

"Of course they do. Some people even do more than this, if that's really possible."

The Girl nodded, still looking around in shock.

"Where do we go first?"

That was a good question…

Asi looked around at all the stores and people around them, finding Christmas staring back at every turn. There was so much to do, it was impossible to tell where to start.

They eventually wandered into the first store they came too, finding ornaments hanging all around them.

The Girl had immediately ran to some of them, and picked them up.

"Aww, look, they're little hearts! We should so get them, they'd be perfect, since you're all collecting them, and I'm a princess of them! Can we, please, can we!?"

"Sure, get whatever you want. We need everything, since it's our first Christmas and all."

The Girl gave a cry of joy, quickly moving to the next wall to see what else she could find. Asi meanwhile was hunting for ornaments of his own. He hadn't gone shopping like this since he was a Somebody, and it felt sort of odd to him to be doing so without Saïx's opinions mixed with his own. Asi smiled. It was kind of fun, though…

A small yelp suddenly came from the back of the store, a yelp Asi had come to know well. The Girl was in trouble… Again…

Asi quickly went to her, wondering just what she had done this time, only to stop dead in his tracks. A laugh quickly made its way to his lips at the sight before him.

The Girl was standing before him, tinsel and sparkles covering her, making her shine and glitter like a decoration herself.

"Well, that's one way to take them all home, dear…"

The Girl smiled.

"Oops… I think they were too high up for me… But don't I look so pretty!?"

She spun around, throwing fragments of light all around her. Asi laughed again.

"Gorgeous. All we need is to wrap some lights around you, then you'll be perfect."

"Let's go find some!"

The Girl took off running then, trailing the tinsel behind her, and a shower of sparkles flying off.

Someone had the nerve to mumble after her, Asi's glare an instant later silencing them. He didn't care if this girl was more trouble than she was worth. She was his girl to watch, and no one was going to do anything against her.

Still glaring, daring anyone else to do anything against The Girl, Asi followed her to the front of the store, finding her digging through a display of lights.

"They change colors, and flash! We never had anything like that on Destiny Island!" she cried, Asi glancing around, making sure no one heard her speak of her world. No matter how much they tried to get her to stop talking about these things so openly, it seemed she couldn't…

Picking up a box of lights, The Girl held them up for inspection, smiling. It seemed she had found the lights she wanted.

It wasn't too long later that they left that store for another one, tinsel still trailing behind The Girl, and stares following her all the way.

* * *

"Blue… Or red… Blue? Or red? Why don't they have pink?"

The Girl held up both stockings in front of her, staring at them intently, while Asi picked out a few more figurines to hang up.

"They probably do, it just may be hidden…"

The Girl promptly threw the stockings she had been holding down and began digging through the others, searching for a glimpse of pink.

They had been all over the town by this time, and bought so much Christmas stuff that Asi could already hear the reprimanding words awaiting him for spending so much money… Again… And this was only the beginning, they hadn't even bought presents yet…

"Ah ha!"

The Girl pulled herself out of the stockings, holding a pink one high above her head.

"They did have one! And now it's mine!"

She jumped down from the display to stand beside Asi, holding up her find happily.

"Okay, so is that all we need for decorations then?"

"I think so… We should be able to decorate the whole castle with all of this!"

Asi nodded, those reprimanding words coming back to him, more forcefully this time. Oh well, if Ansem wanted him to spend less money, then he shouldn't give him so much to spend. That sounded like a good argument to him.

"Okay, then I think we can go back to the castle and start setting this all up."

The Girl nodded, quickly running to buy her last victory. It was quite sad to think of her former life before she came to the Heartless. She had lived on the island, without any huge shopping centers at all. Asi almost shivered.

The Girl soon came back, a new bag now added to the one's they already had.

"Let's go find somewhere to use the Darkness, then."

The Girl nodded a little apprehensively this time, still not used to traveling with Darkness. Poor thing, she seemed almost afraid of it. At least Riku had taken to using the Darkness rather quickly, but his friend here wouldn't…

The pair made their way out of the store, returning to the streets that were still full of people. Every time a group finished shopping and went to their homes, it seemed a new group joined the throngs on the street, everyone running around and pushing past each other. Asi couldn't

remember ever rushing his shopping back when he was Isa. Then again, he was fairly sure this wasn't the world that he had lived on…

A scream suddenly came from next to him, a very familiar scream… Turning quickly to see what had happened, Asi saw the girl falling backwards, apparently a group of three kids having walked right into her, pushing her out of their way. Unfortunately, The Girl's balance was nothing to brag about… Quicker than was possible for a Somebody, Asi caught The Girl before she could hit the ground, noticing how she immediately caught hold of his arm and tightened her grip. She was becoming used to being rescued…

Asi set her back on her feet, before turning his glare on the kids who were only a few feet away. He had to fight off the urge to allow the Darkness to take him over, telling himself these were only children, someone easy enough to handle in his human form…

"Hey!"

Before the group had time to turn around, Asi had grabbed the flowing white coat of the one in the middle, pulling him back and turning him to glare at.

"What are you strangers doing!? Let me go!"

"This is our town, ya know!?"

"Not welcome."

Amusement began to overcome Asi. These children honestly thought they were able to overtake him? If he weren't angry with them he probably would have smiled.

"Look, I don't really care if you want us here or not, because to be honest, we don't want to stay in your boring little town. You can have it. But the thing is, you should have just let us leave on our own, instead of trying to get us out faster. You see this girl? Nothing's going to happen to her, no one's going to hurt her, not even little misfits like you. Because, you see…"

Asi allowed his eyes to turn to those of the Heartless he was, glowing a bright yellow, causing the two children who were able to take a quick step back.

"If anyone does even one little thing to her, then they have to answer to me. And trust me, I'm not someone little kids like you want to mess with. Understand?"

All three nodded as one, clearly able to mess with the other kids around town, but suddenly finding themselves out of their league.

Asi released the proclaimed leader of their group, glaring at them all one last time, before turning to The Girl.

"Come on, let's go home."

Asi put his arm around her, leading her down the street, watching in amusement as she turned her head around, sticking her tongue out at her would be attackers. Shaking his head, Asi lead her to one of the darker alleyways, opening the Darkness so The Girl would be able to use it as well, then returning her to the End of the Worlds.


	5. Christmas Land

Ale and Li Amaru were waiting for them when they got back, sadly telling them that they couldn't talk anyone else into celebrating Christmas, saying most of them weren't even at the castle. Asi had figured as much, simply nodding before he and The Girl held out all their finds.

"And we get to decorate the whole castle with all of this?" Ale asked in wonder, happily holding up the red stocking that they had found for him.

"Well yeah, we didn't buy it for nothing!"

"Are you sure the other members are going to like it?" Li Amaru asked, cautiously examining his new purple stocking.

"Who cares if they do or not? I was put in charge of Christmas, and I say we put it all up."

The Girl smiled as she shifted through all the bags, holding up some lights and then looking around.

"Where do we begin!? Oh, we have so much to do!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you all can do it."

They all turned to Dyme as he walked in, looking at all the decorations in slight wonder.

"We all can do it?" Asi asked, looking at him questioningly. "You're helping us do it."

Dyme laughed, shaking his head.

"Of course I'm not! I have better things to do! I'll just admire your work when you're done! Right, Asi?" He smiled, trying to appeal to him. Asi merely smiled back.

"I don't think so. Go get Riku, he's helping us too."

Dyme's smiled faltered as he looked at the Guardian in disbelief.

"But… Why do I have to help! I don't even like cleaning my room, and now I have to find places for all this!?"

"But Dyme, it'll be fun!" Ale said, Dyme glancing at him in annoyance.

"We'll all get to work together to make the castle look like Christmas, it'll be so exciting!"

"But…"

"It doesn't matter Dyme. If you want to celebrate Christmas, then you're going to help us. Now, go get Riku."

Dyme crossed his arms with a scowl upon his face, turning and walking away, muttering things the whole time.

"Okay, when those two get back, we'll probably go ahead and start hanging the lights."

The Girl's eyes lit up happily, Ale's doing the same. Li Amaru might have looked more enthusiastic, but Asi had just realized that the lights were doing a spectacular job of tangling themselves around the poor Heartless. Seeing as how the other two were preoccupied with where they were going to be putting all the decorations, Asi decided to help Li Amaru himself, while they waited for the other two to join them. Because if they weren't there soon, they were going to be hunted down…

* * *

"It goes more to the left!"

"What does it matter, they're lights! It doesn't matter how they go!"

"Of course it does! If you don't do this right, then Christmas will be ruined, all because of you!"

"You're just being difficult, you idiot!"

"I'll knock this ladder down if you call me an idiot again!"

The Girl sighed, shaking her head as Riku and Dyme continued to yell at each other, Dyme convinced Riku was putting the lights up wrong. They were almost done with all the lights inside the castle, which was making it glow. True, Asi could never remember hanging lights inside his house before, but then, Isa had never lived in a castle like he now did…

"They're staying here."

"No, Riku! They can't!"

"Oh, yes they can."

"No!"

"Yes."

"Boys!"

They both turned to look at Asi as he glared at them, The Girl smiling at them contently.

"Will both of you shut up? They look fine, Dyme, and you know it. And Riku, if you didn't fight back, then he'd eventually stop and just be annoyed. Now get down and help us set up some of the other decorations."

They both scowled but listened, Riku jumping down, and both coming over to the other four.

"What are we going to do outside the castle, though?" Ale asked, looking at the few remaining lights. "Will we have enough?"

"Even if we did, all the lights outside would make it hard to see them. We might not be able to do that."

Ale's face fell a little, until The Girl suddenly grabbed his arm.

"It'll be okay, Ale! We'll have so much fun inside, and we're in here more anyway! Come on, let's go find a place for everything else!"

Ale smiled again, then nodded.

"Do we have to help with that too?"

"Yes, Dyme, you do… Then you have to go with us to get a tree."

"No one told me I'd have to make Christmas…"

Riku side glanced him, a cruel smile coming to his lips.

"Oh, but Dyme, it wouldn't be a holiday without you!"

Dyme growled at the sarcasm coming from the other boy's voice, and then smiled wickedly.

"Well, it doesn't matter, because everything that I set up will look ten times better than what you set up!"

"Oh, really?"

"That's right!"

Both glared at each other for a moment longer, before turning and running to opposite sides of the room, digging through the decorations laid out everywhere.

Asi was skeptical of their luck.

"Well, that takes care of those two, then…"

The Girl smiled, almost laughing.

"Yeah, who knew they'd deal with each other!? Can we start setting up our decorations, too?"

"Of course, have at it."

The Girl and Ale smiled again, Ale grabbing Li Amaru, and all three going to get decorations of their own to set up. Slowly, their castle was turning into Christmas Land.

* * *

It had taken them the better part of the day, but now the decorations were almost all in place, their castle glowing with the effect. They had put decorations in every place possible, hanging bells and tinsel everywhere, figurines awaiting the Heartless at every turn. It had been a productive day indeed.

They were now putting the last of their decorations up, The Girl looking more tired than she had in a while. It was strange to Asi to see someone so tired, since the Heartless needed no sleep, and Riku had the Darkness within him now, keeping him awake longer than usual. Once again, it was just The Girl who had these strange effects, as was usually the case. Asi had a feeling that she wouldn't stay up much longer.

"There!" Ale exclaimed happily as he tied the last snowflake to the side of a shelf.

"Are we done?" Li Amaru asked in amazement, glancing around at their work.

"Yeah, that's the last of it." Riku told him, him and Dyme still examining the other's work in suspicion. About an hour into the work Riku had caught Dyme using Ale to help him, while Dyme knew that Riku was getting The Girl to help. Neither had gotten too far from each other since then.

"Then we've done all we can today. We'll go get the tree after you've rested." Asi said, looking at The Girl as he spoke. She nodded happily, but without as much energy as was usual with her.

"Okay, I think I will go to bed now…"

She turned to leave, but then stopped, turning around quickly to hug Asi once more that day.

"Thank you for defending me, again."

"Of course, I've sworn to protect you."

"But you don't always want to, and you still do." She smiled up at him brightly, before letting go of him and running down the hallway towards her room.

"What'd she do now?" Dyme asked, Asi not surprised to find him standing directly beside him suddenly. "Nearly get herself killed again?"

"Not really, but she is good at finding trouble, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is…" He wasn't able to hide all the anger from his eyes as he glared down the hallway she had just gone. It was very obvious that Dyme wasn't good at sharing, at all… Scowling, nodding in certainty that The Girl was gone, Dyme turned his attentions to Ale and Li Amaru, who were still admiring what they had accomplished.

"Asi…"

The Guardian cringed a little, before putting on a bright smile and turning towards the other hall, where his Master was gazing at him with his arms crossed.

Leaving the children to touch up their decorations a little more, Asi walked over to where Ansem stood watching him, a questioning look on his face.

"Yes, Master?"

"What's all this?"

"Well, Christmas decorations…"

"And why are there so many of them?"

"Well, we couldn't just put up a few of them! We have a big castle, after all."

"Do I dare ask how much you spent this time?"

Asi smiled charmingly.

"Really, what's that matter? It's Christmas! It's time to celebrate!"

Ansem sighed, before a slight smile came to his lips.

"Well, I did put you in charge of this, so I was asking for it…"

"Don't you like all our decorations?"

Asi put on that smile again, the one that he used to get himself out of trouble. It was the simple fact that Asi was positive that he could always get out of trouble with that smile that made Ansem love it so much.

"Yes, you all did great. Do I want to know how much else you have planned?"

"Oh, just a few things here and there… We'll be good about it…"

"Of course, I'm sure you will."

Asi nodded, before hugging his arms around Ansem, smiling wickedly.

"Are you sure you don't want to help us?"

"And take away all of your fun? Why would I want to do that?"

"Oh, you wouldn't be taking any away…"

"I think I'll pass."

"Hmm, I'll just have to try and change your mind, then." Asi replied, that smile never leaving his lips as he moved his arms to wrap around one of Ansem's, pulling him down the hallway.


	6. Of Christmas Trees and Lights

Early… Out of everything that Asi was positive of, that was what he was most sure of. It was way too early in the morning to be out in the middle of the woods, especially since he had no idea where these woods were.

He hadn't been planning on leaving so early that morning, but when The Girl, Ale, and Li Amaru had run into his room, all three excited and ready to go get a tree, Asi couldn't fight them off. Dyme and Riku weren't that happy to leave so early either, but both had consented, seeing as how they had been begged just as much as Asi had. Ansem had even been talked into coming with them, but he was there more because they had no idea where they were than because he was unable to tell the younger ones no. He said it was too dangerous for Asi to be in an unexplored world, at least when dealing with all five of the youngest ones in the castle alone.

Why they couldn't have gone to a world that actually sold trees, Asi still wasn't sure. The Girl had said it would be better to pick a tree from the wild, and Li Amaru immediately agreed, looking for any excuse to go to a new world that held plant life.

So, that was where Asi suddenly found himself, walking through some unknown forest, the sun still not even completely up. The shadows it cast fell across the group, almost as confused as some of them felt.

"Where the Hell are we, and where are we going?" Dyme demanded for the tenth time, Riku for once not arguing with him.

"We're in a forest." Ale said brightly, before almost tripping over a loss limb.

"That still doesn't tell me where we are, or what we're doing here."

"We're getting a Christmas tree, silly!" The Girl said, Dyme glaring at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well then pick one! We're surrounded by trees!"

"It can't just be any tree." Li Amaru said, looking thoughtful. "Some trees wouldn't be able to survive, and others wouldn't work well for the ornaments, and…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just find these trees that we can use then, and get out of this place…"

Asi couldn't help but agreeing.

"Dyme does have a point." Ansem said, sighing. "Why did we have to come to this world out of all of them?"

Asi shrugged, glancing around at all the trees. He kept feeling that those creepy little animals were watching them…

"I was wondering that same thing. But The Girl's convinced that we'll get a better tree out here."

"Kairi…"

"Did you hear that?"

Ansem sighed, as Asi continued to glare at the vegetation around them, daring something to show itself.

"Whoa!"

Looking forward once more, Asi found that The Girl had stopped abruptly from the front, gazing out over what appeared to be a drop off. Asi mentally wondered how she had managed to stop before falling down it, as was her luck.

"Look down there!"

Everyone moved forward to look where she was pointing, all finding a small patch of forest covered in smaller trees.

"Christmas trees!" The Girl cried, smiling. "Real Christmas trees, not palm trees or anything else!"

The Girl tried to run forward to the trees, but Asi caught her by her collar, stopping her.

"Don't you dare run off this ledge…"

Looking down, and finding her foot hanging over air, The Girl looked up at Asi, a sheepish grin on her face.

"Oops, I didn't remember that… I'm too excited! Come on!"

And with that, the girl grabbed a hold of Asi's hand, and began pulling him down a path to their side. If she had lead Asi away any faster, he wouldn't have noticed the cocky sort of smile that had fallen over his Master's lips, but as it was, he had seen it. Asi pondered this for a moment, before he realized what had brought it on. He had just saved The Girl again, like he had been told to do, but it had come naturally. He hadn't thought about saving her, he had merely protected her, just like he did with Ansem. That meant he was getting some sort of bond with this Girl…

Whatever this Girl was doing to him, he was still convinced of one thing, and that was that she had to be more trouble than she was worth…

* * *

"This one's fuller, though!"

"And it won't fit even in our castle! That's an actual tree, Li Amaru, not one for us to take home!"

"Let's see you make a better choice then, Dyme. All the one's you've picked haven't been the best. You're just trying to pick one so we can go home."

"Hey, I never agreed to any of this! I agreed to presents, and that was it!"

"But Dyme, this is part of the Christmas fun!"

"Ale, you keep talking about this fun, like it's actually here…"

It was at that moment that Riku apparently didn't want to hear any more from Dyme, and smacked the older boy on the back of his head.

"Will you stop complaining and just look?"

Dyme mumbled something in response, but set to the task of looking at the trees around them.

Asi had long ago begun to ignore them, as he and Ansem had moved to a part of the forest away from the younger group, looking at the trees around them.

"It is neat, when you think about it. I don't think I ever came to the middle of the forest to get a Christmas tree."

"I can't even remember celebrating Christmas. I don't think they did in Hollow Bastion."

"Of course they did. What doesn't go on there?"

"That is true…"

Asi smiled as he walked around one of the trees, moving in a way almost like he was dancing with it.

"Besides, even The Girl and all of them celebrated Christmas, and they were stuck on some little island. I'm sure somewhere like Hollow Bastion would."

Ansem didn't even try to remind him of The Girl's name this time. Besides, it wasn't like Asi didn't know it. He just didn't use it…

As if she knew they were talking about her, The Girl ran up to them suddenly, a bright smile on her face.

"Come on! You have to see it, it's perfect!"

She turned and ran the way she had just come before waiting for a reply, trusting Ansem and Asi to follow her, which they did.

She was jumping up and down by a tree a little ways away from them, her eyes glowing.

"Look at it! It's totally perfect for us! It's the right size, and it's so pretty, and it'll be able to hold all the ornaments we got!"

"You bought more?"

"Well, we had to put something on the tree…"

Asi gave that smile again, Ansem shaking his head before they looked back to The Girl.

"Can we get this one? Can we please?" She was practically jumping again.

Smiling wickedly, Asi went to the tree and began to circle this one, still acting as if it were a dance.

"Well, it does look nice…"

"Ah ha…"

"And it has a good color to it…"

"Yeah…"

"And it would fit in the castle nicely, and we could decorate it easily."

"Ah ha!"

"So…"

"So?"

"I think… Yeah, I think it should work."

The Girl jumped up and clapped her hands, a triumphant look in her eyes.

"Thank you! You're totally the best! Boys, we found the tree!"

"Yeah, I found a lot of those!" Dyme yelled back.

"No, it's_ the_ tree, the one we're going to get!"

"And?"

"Come look at it!"

"Who said you got to pick the tree!?"

"Get the Hell over here!" Asi yelled, as The Girl stopped jumping, looking back at her tree like it had been offended.

It didn't take long for the other four to make it to them, Li Amaru immediately examining the tree in question, nodding his approval. Ale was already jumping up and down with The Girl.

"It's perfect!"

"I know, totally! And it'll be so pretty when we decorate it with all the ornaments!"

"I can't wait!"

Dyme threw his hands up, impatient.

"Okay, so let's get it and go home!"

"Well, we have to cut it down first…"

A gleam came to Dyme's eyes.

"I could do that."

"Oh no." Riku said, side glancing Dyme. "You're not playing with a sharp object."

"I wouldn't be "playing" with it, I'd be using it!"

"I don't trust you."

"Don't trust me then, I don't care!"

Asi rolled his eyes, turning to Li Amaru.

"If you could get it?"

Li Amaru nodded, calling upon the Darkness to assist him in lifting the tree out of the ground, cutting it off where he thought it would work.

"Thank you." Asi said, casting a look towards Dyme and Riku, who both looked away.

"So, can we go decorate it now!?" Ale asked, The Girl looking just as hopeful.

"Why not?" Ansem said, turning to look at Asi. "Let's see what else you could have possibly bought."

Asi smiled innocently, mentally making his plans to get himself out of trouble once more, just like he had the night before.


	7. Gift of Lights

The tree had worked out better than they could have hoped for, apart from a few of the inevitable fights that had broken out between a few of them. Other than that, the tree had gone up beautifully, with its lights sparkling and glowing every second of the day. The only problem was that it had been nearly two weeks since the tree had gone up, and it was still pretty much bare of presents. Everyone had been taking their time on what to get one another, wanting it all to be right, since this was their very first Christmas.

It had been put off long enough, in Asi's opinion. He was fairly sure that he was totally out of trouble for the money he had spent on decorations, which meant that it was time for him to cause some more trouble that he would have to get himself out of. And this would be the perfect way…

Smiling, he set out to find The Girl.

He found her on one of the balconies, a book out in front of her, her pen moving over its pages.

Poetry. Since they had met, he had come to know that she was fond of it, and often would look for her in places such as this, knowing that it would be where he'd find her.

"Hey, do you want to go shopping with me?"

The Girl didn't even glance up to look at him, automatically jumping to her feet, then turning to face him.

"Sure! What are we shopping for?"

"Christmas presents, to finish the tree finally."

A smile broke out over The Girl's face, and she nodded.

"I'd love to go! I'll be ready in a few minutes!" She ran past Asi after that, going back into the castle and running towards her room. Shaking his head, Asi walked back into the castle, going to his own room to get ready.

* * *

They went to a different world this time. In fact, they had been to quite a few different worlds, seeing what they could find in each one of them. They were fairly sure they were almost done, and Asi was quite positive that he'd be back in trouble, a thought that made him smile slightly.

They were currently in a store of weapons, a dangerous choice to give to Riku and Dyme, but both were sure the boys would each like something new to play with. Besides, it would help the two of them bond… Or they'd accidentally kill one another and then they wouldn't have to worry about them bonding… Asi was hoping that they'd learn to bond soon.

"Do you think Dyme would like something like this, or this?" The Girl said, holding up two different types of weapons.

"Probably that one. He could be quicker with it."

The Girl smiled, putting the other weapon back in its place.

They continued to look for a few minutes, when The Girl gasped, holding up a finely made sword.

"I've never seen a weapon look pretty like this! Look, it totally has a heart up here, on the hilt, I think… Like the Heartless emblem! Well, not totally, but close enough!"

"I didn't know you liked weapons… Did you want one?"

The Girl's face fell a little, as she put the sword back in place.

"No, I don't know what I'd be able to use one for…"

"You could always train with Dyme and Riku."

The Girl's face fell more, as she shook her head.

"They don't want me to train with them. I tried to before, with that "girly" Keyblade, as Dyme called it. They both just laughed at me, and told me that a girl couldn't fight as well as them."

"And why can't they?"

"Because, girls are weak, so I couldn't fight with them…"

Asi looked over at her, seeing her staring at the ground, a sort of frustration in her eyes… Poor girl, she was letting them get to her now.

"Just because you're a girl doesn't mean you can't fight them. Hell, you could probably beat them if you trained enough."

"No, I don't think I'd be able to do that…"

"I think you could. They're not so tough, anyway, when you know how to deal with them."

"Really, you think I could fight them?"

"I think you could. Look, don't let them tell you what you can't do and what you can. If you think you can beat them, then you can. They'd be surprised to see what a girl can do."

"So, all I have to do is stand up to them?"

"Yeah, just that would take them off guard. You should show them up. I think you can beat them."

The Girl nodded, a determination lighting her eyes that hadn't been there before.

"I'll try! I'll take my "girly" Keyblade and teach them a thing or two! Or at least I'm totally going to try!"

"Good, you should."

The Girl smiled, then returned to looking for weapons, this time visualizing which one's it would be an accomplishment for her to beat.

* * *

They had spent most of their day shopping, and decided to return to their castle in a more normal Somebody fashion, using the front door. That way everyone would be able to see all the bags they had, and they'd know that their present was somewhere in there. Anticipation was always a good thing, right? Or a devious thing, and Asi was skilled in both areas, and he was teaching both to The Girl who walked beside him. Oh yes, everyone would know they got them gifts now…

It was for that very choice that both of them saw the front of the castle, causing them to both stop where they stood, staring up in wonder. All of the falling orbs, the essence of hearts that lived in their world, were no longer falling as they had been when they left. Now, they were all situated around the castle, like the lights they hadn't been able to hang would have been. The orbs already glowed with an otherworldly light, and now, right against the castle, they shown and sparkled like never before.

"Wow…" Asi heard The Girl breathe, and he nodded in response, unable to find his voice.

"How'd they all get there?"

A smile suddenly came to Asi's lips, the lights shining from the castle reflecting in his yellow eyes.

"I think they're a gift to us."

"A gift?" The Girl smiled, leaning against Asi, still looking at the castle.

"I like this gift."

"Yeah. Me too…"

Both smiling more than they had been before, they made their way into the castle, the lights still shining in their eyes.

* * *

Asi was still smiling later that night, even after he and The Girl had gotten everyone's gifts wrapped, as he lay on his stomach once more, again tracing small designs in the sheets.

"I thought you weren't celebrating Christmas?"

Ansem stopped writing, turning to watch the Guardian.

"I'm not. I think I'm just being pulled into it…"

"We didn't ask you to put the lights up, though."

"Who said I'm the one who did that?"

"You're the only one who can."

Ansem sighed, smiling back at Asi.

"I thought you'd like it."

Asi turned to look over his shoulder, before standing and crossing the room, sitting in his Master's lap.

"I loved it…"

And without another word, he leaned down to kiss Ansem's lips, realizing that there were few gifts that were better than this.


	8. Christmas Cookies

The Heartless soon found that Christmas was only a week and a half away, and Asi had realized that he still hadn't found a gift for The Girl. He had an idea, and it might be tricky to pull it off, but he did have an idea… It was an odd realization to him how hard he had focused on getting her a gift, just as hard as he had planned Dyme's. Something had to be wrong with him, this was too odd even for him…

Shrugging it off, Asi focused once more on the jar he held in his hands. A jar of homemade cookie dough… Which he was planning to make himself, for better or for worse… Isa had liked to make cookies, and Saïx still liked to as well, so Asi had to wonder if it was still in him to make the treats. He certainly didn't like to cook now that he was away from his Nobody, but baking was different.

He opened the jar, beginning to mix everything together, realizing that this was something else he hadn't done since becoming an independent being.

"What are you doing?"

Asi turned to look at The Girl as she skipped into the kitchen, a curious gleam in her eyes.

"Baking cookies."

A light came to her eyes.

"Can I help!? I've never got to bake cookies with anyone before!"

"Sure, you can help. Just go ahead and start mixing…"

He didn't even finish his sentence before The Girl had grabbed the bowl, mixing already, while Asi put the rest of ingredients in the bowl.

"Alright, and we'll need some…"

"What's going on?"

Both turned to look at Dyme, who was watching The Girl warily.

"We're baking cookies!"

"Baking cookies? Why can't I help?" Dyme demanded, glaring towards Asi.

"Don't look at me like that, or it'll be the last thing you do. And you can help, Dyme, if you would like to. Come here and help me gather all of these things so she can mix them."

Dyme didn't wait to be told twice, immediately going around the kitchen to help gather everything they would need. Well, this was certainly something Asi had never expected… He hadn't ever known Dyme to cook anything… Brushing that off, they set to work with adding the rest of the ingredients, The Girl happily mixing them up.

"Is this good enough?" she asked at last, Asi almost laughing.

"I think it was good enough a while ago. Yeah, that's good. Now help me spread it out over here."

Dyme looked at him in confusion.

"Why are we spreading it out?"

"So we can use these." Asi said, holding out cookie cutters to each of them, Dyme getting a snowflake, while The Girl took the bell one.

"Aww, these are totally adorable! We get to cut them into shapes!?"

"Yeah, that's why they're going to be our Christmas cookies."

The Girl nodded, quickly taking the mix and putting it across the counter, while Asi spread it out.

"Okay, and now have at it."

The Girl immediately did, smiling while she did so, as Dyme began on his end, casting glances to The Girl whenever he could. They worked like that for a while, until The Girl stopped to glare at the dough.

"It won't come out without breaking!"

Asi stopped from his own work to glance at her, seeing her cutter stuck in the dough.

"I can't get it to work!"

Asi was about to offer to help, when the last thing he had ever expected to happen did.

"Here." Dyme suddenly leaned over her, holding the dough down himself, while The Girl carefully lifted the cutter out, smiling when it came.

"Thanks, Dyme!"

"Yeah, yeah, just, don't do it again…"

The Girl smiled, Dyme turning his back on her to go back to his work. Asi just stared at him in wonder.

Dyme had actually just helped someone else, for no other purpose than just being nice… And for an even more unknown reason, Asi couldn't help but feeling a strange happiness that the two had just gotten along so well. It was in that moment that he decided to make cookies more often…


	9. The Rise of The Girl

It didn't take long for Dyme and The Girl to go back to normal, but it still amused Asi that Dyme had taken a moment of pity towards her. It also let him know that maybe he wasn't the only one who she was growing on, which made him feel better about that…

"Come on, Riku, give it to me!"

"It's not yours, Dyme, it's Ale's!"

Dyme made another grab for the present that Riku was attempting to place under the tree, only to have the younger boy dodge him again, glaring.

"Who gave you permission to give Ale a present!?"

"It's Christmas, Dyme! I'm allowed to give anyone I want a present, or not give someone a present, in your case! Now get the Hell away!"

"I just want to see it!"

"There's no reason for you to see it!"

Asi sighed, closing his eyes again that day, trying to block them out. Across from him, he had seen The Girl trying to do the same thing, her pen stopping in mid-sentence.

"If you two have to fight, can you please take it away from this room? I'm trying to finish these papers, and it's damned near impossible with you two!"

"Yeah, and I'll never get this poem done! You're disrupting my flow!"

"Oh, excuse us, Princess!" Dyme said the last word with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

The Girl glared.

"That's right, I'm a Princess of Heart, and I'm telling you now, stop fighting! We can't finish our work here!"

Riku looked at her in amusement.

"Really, Kairi, it's just a poem. Besides, you should just stay out of this. Our fights are no place for you."

The Girl's eyes narrowed, never leaving the two of them. Asi put down his work in favor of the display before him.

"Look, I said to stop it, so stop it!"

Dyme actually laughed.

"Oh please, what are you going to do to us? You couldn't even get your cutter out of the cookie dough."

Riku laughed at this.

"Says the one who was actually off baking something."

Dyme took a moment to glare at him, before turning back to Kairi.

"Just stay out of this, Princess."

"He's right, Kai. You'd be better to just go back to your poetry."

As calmly as she could, The Girl laid her poetry book on the edge of her chair, then stood up, walking over to the tree where the boys were.

"Look, it's Christmas, and I don't want to fight with either of you. But you're messing up our peace, and I'm not going to have it. And I also won't have you insulting me just because I'm a girl, so don't. Okay?"

Both boys stared at her for a moment, before they both burst out laughing.

"Oh, come off it, Kairi! I've seen how you fight! I love you, you've been my friend for years, but really!"

"Oh God, you're demanding us! This is hilarious! Come on, do it again, just one more time!"

If her eyes could have narrowed anymore Asi was sure they would have, but as it was, The Girl looked a menacing sight. Before either boy could react, she had smacked them both on the back of their heads with all her might, which turned out to be a lot more than either boy had originally thought.

"You want me to demand you even more? Then I will! Now listen, neither of you are going to laugh at me because I'm a girl anymore, understand? Sure, if I do something funny, then laugh, but otherwise…!" It was here that she smacked them again, but this time both boys were ready.

They jumped up, Dark Water in Dyme's eyes, and Riku almost ready to call on his Keyblade.

"Look, Kairi, we don't want to fight you…"

"Good." Before either could react, The Girl had called upon her own flowery Keyblade, smacking them both with it, knocking them down.

"Because you won't win!" Her voice had suddenly gone so commanding that Asi felt a surge of pride for her leadership.

"Now listen to me. You will both stop this stupid fighting instantly, okay!? Because we so totally don't want to hear it! If you want to fight, then you take it to another room! In fact, go to another room anyway, because I don't want to see you two right now! Now go!"

"But…"

"Go!"

And they both did. Without needing to be told again, they both jumped off the floor and actually ran from the room, not looking back at The Girl's glare as she stood watching after them, her hands on her hips. She stood like that for a few moments more, before she allowed her Keyblade to go back into Darkness. Nodding swiftly, she went back to her chair, sitting down and picking up her poetry book. It was only then that she looked up at Asi, smiling brightly, as Asi finally allowed himself to laugh at the sight he had just seen. The Girl giggled too, thinking of it.

"Thank you."

"I didn't do that, dear. That was all you."

"Yeah, but you told me to do it."

"I'm merely teaching you defense. I won't always be there to protect you, so now I know I can trust you on your own."

The Girl smiled again, nodding proudly, before turning back to her poetry book. And for some reason, Asi couldn't help but sharing her pride, realizing a few moments later that he had just seen some of himself displayed in her eyes.


	10. Parents

Christmas was approaching them at a fast rate now, Asi soon finding that it was only a week away. The excitement between those who were celebrating it was growing even more now, Ale even forcing Li Amaru to sing carols with him, though Dyme usually took them over. Riku and Dyme were also not fighting as much, though Asi knew that had nothing to do with the holiday. Ansem hadn't believed him at first when told him of how The Girl had dealt with them. In fact, Ansem hadn't completely believed Asi until the next day, when The Girl had glanced at Dyme and Riku the moment they tried to fight, both falling silent immediately. Oh yes, Asi was quite proud indeed.

"How does this one look?" The Girl asked, holding up her handmade ornament of a star for inspection.

"Looks good to me. Here, go ahead and go put it on the tree."

The Girl took the hook and ran to do that, coming back once she had found the perfect spot for it, starting on a new ornament. She and Asi were sitting on the couch, making ornaments for themselves out of boredom, and because they had both found that it was really a fun task to do.

The Girl suddenly sighed, stopping her work, which was why Asi looked up at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, actually… Everything's totally right…"

"Then why do you sound like something's wrong?"

"I don't mean to, it's just… Riku told me when I got here that we had to leave, and that we weren't supposed to be here, but…"

Here The Girl looked at Asi with so much emotion that Asi felt he was seeing her soul.

"I don't want to leave. I don't ever want to leave, actually. Sure, I like going to the other worlds, and I like seeing the Nobodies and spending time with them, but… I like coming back here, because it's like… It's like I'm coming home… I… I always wondered what it would be like to have a family, a real family. I had Sora and Riku, but they were like my brothers. I wondered what it would be like to have a mom and a dad, and to bake cookies, and be made to wear dresses that I didn't want to, and to go shopping… And for someone to protect me, but to also make me protect myself, and… And to have parents that I loved, and that loved me…"

Her jealousy of Dyme. How she was always wherever he was, or how she'd find him. How she'd latch on to him so easily… Everything about her came upon Asi in that moment, all connecting and making all the sense in the world, almost as if it were the only thing that made any sense at all. That's why she acted like she did, that's why she tried to get close to him, to spend time. She thought of him as…

The Girl suddenly smiled, suddenly leaning over the couch to hug Asi.

"Thank you. I know you didn't want to watch me, but I'm happy that you are."

With that, she leaned back to her side of the couch, smiling, before she jumped up and ran down the hallway, leaving Asi alone, and still not quite able to grasp what just happened.

* * *

It was late at night, even by the standards of their ever-dark world, but Asi still couldn't make himself get up. He wasn't totally sure how long he had been sitting on the couch, staring at the fire Ale had consented to light way earlier that night, before The Girl made her confession.

How Asi hadn't seen it before, he still wasn't sure. It all fit together so perfectly. The Girl acted like she did towards them because they had somehow become her parents… He had baked cookies with her, Ansem had made her wear a dress just like all the other Princesses of Heart, and neither of them had completely known how much it all had really meant to her…

"Asi?" He turned to look beside him, surprised to see his Master had come in, not hearing him at all. Ansem came and sat down beside him, his expression worried, which was when Asi realized it must be even later than he thought.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just… Thinking."

"About?"

"Her, like I do a lot nowadays…"

"What this time? A new reason that you don't want to watch her?"

"No. A new reason that I want to."

Ansem didn't try to hide his surprise at this.

"Does this mean you actually like watching her?"

"I think… She… She thinks we're her parents, now, after all we've done for her here."

Neither spoke for a long time, Asi returning his gaze to watch the fire.

"That's why she wanted to get so close to you this past month, then?"

"Yeah… The thing is, I don't really mind her thinking that… It's sort of nice…"

Asi glanced sideways, seeing that cocky smile again.

"What?"

"I told you that you'd like her."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did, and you remember too. You told me you never would, but I said you two would get along in the end."

Asi scowled, crossing his arms.

"As if I were to know that then. How would I know that she'd just come into my life and somehow grow on me?"

"I never said you did know that, I said I did."

"Of course…"

Asi sighed, looking at the fire again.

"It is weird how she was able to do this, though. My life was fine, perfectly so, and then the next thing I know, here's Kairi, and all she does is cause me trouble, and yet, I don't mind!"

Silence met him, and Asi glanced beside him, finding Ansem smiling again, traces of his cocky smirk still present.

"What is it?"

"You said Kairi."

"No I didn't."

"Oh yes, Asi, you did."

Asi scowled for a minute, before it vanished, confusion taking its place.

"I did, didn't I?"

"Yes. Without even thinking about it. It used to be the other way around. You had to think and remind yourself of her name before you'd say it."

Asi blinked a few times, wondering what had brought that on now. Finally, he sighed, leaning into his Master.

"It's because I don't mind thinking of her as my daughter, isn't it?"

"It is. I think you've been thinking of her like that for a while now, you just haven't realized it until now."

Asi nodded, letting the truth of those words sink in.

"I have… I don't know why, or what's wrong with me, but I have…"

Ansem laughed softly, before wrapping his arms around his Guardian.

"Nothing's wrong with you."

"If you say so…"

"I do. Now stop worrying about it. There's nothing to worry about, really."

Asi nodded again, closing his eyes.

"You're right… Besides, she really is a sweet girl…"

"See, I knew it."

Asi scowled a little, before laughing quietly, shaking his head. They were a different sort of family, to be sure, but Asi knew in that moment that they were indeed a family.


	11. Christmas Time

They had planned, and prepared, and worked for this day, and finally, they found it suddenly upon them. Christmas Day. And just like the day they went to find their tree, everyone soon found that this day would begin early.

It all started with Ale pulling Li Amaru around to get everyone up, though like usual, the only two who they found still asleep were Kairi and Riku. It didn't take long to get Kairi up, as the instant her eyes opened she knew what day it was, and was up before Ale had even finished yelling, "Merry Christmas!"

Riku took a bit longer, but now they had Kairi helping them out, and he was up faster than he wanted to be. Dyme was already up, of course, and was serenading them all with his own rock versions of carols, flashing a cocky smile at any member who passed.

Asi and Ansem, for their part, had decided to not even try to fight them off, as they had actually been expecting to see Ale at three in the morning, and were fully surprised that he waited until five. Though he wasn't sure, Asi had a feeling that Li Amaru was behind the wait, fearing that too many people would get mad at them, and on Christmas.

For whatever reason, the Heartless and their two newest members found themselves up by five thirty, all gathered around the tree they had searched to find.

"I want a present first!" Dyme called, actually getting on his knees before the tree, reaching for the present closest to him.

"You can take any one you want, Dyme, but that one's for Li Amaru." Asi said nonchalantly, Dyme scowling and making a move to throw the present away from himself, until a glare from Riku and one from Kairi stopped him. Instead, he mumbled a few words, and handed Li Amaru the gift, the other Heartless taking it shyly, looking to see who had gotten him a present. After his good deed, Dyme went to pulling all the other gifts out, searching for one that would be his, placing them all in a pile on "his side" of the tree.

When he was satisfied he had found all of his, he began tearing into the paper, just as everyone else began picking their first gift to open.

"Hell yeah!" Dyme cried, holding up his new microphone, just as Li Amaru happily pulled out a new outfit, and Ale squealed as he held up his new boxed writing pen.

The morning continued in that manner, Dyme exclaiming similar cries every time he opened a gift, until he got to Riku's, finding nothing but a piece of coal inside, to Dyme's anger.

Unfortunately, it was immediately after this that Dyme found his brand new weapon from Asi and Kairi, turning on Riku at once, Asi quickly handing Riku his new weapon, the boys trying them out.

For his part, Asi was happy with all of his gifts to, though along with every gift there was some sort of gift card, and Asi had a suspicion that Ansem was the one who had put everyone up to that. But Asi was very willing to let that prank go, seeing as before they had joined everyone else, Ansem had told him that he'd get his present from him later that night. Oh yes, Asi was in a very forgiving mood indeed.

He had also received a personalized journal from Kairi, which was filled with poems the girl had written herself, along with various other gifts from her, all which he found he loved.

By the end of that morning, all of the presents under the tree had been opened, the Heartless playing with various gifts that they now had, though Dyme and Riku still seemed to want nothing more than to try to best one another.

"Is that all?" Dyme choose to say instead, glancing around. Asi smiled, glancing at Ansem, who nodded.

"Not quite, actually. Kairi hasn't gotten her gift from us yet."

Dyme rolled his eyes, still not used to hearing Asi use that name, though he had been for the whole week. Kairi, on the other hand, smiled.

"I get another present? Where is it?"

Asi stood and walked out of the room, returning a minute later with three different gifts, laying them down before the young girl. Smiling, Kairi picked up the first one, opening it quickly. She stopped once she had opened the lid though, staring down at the shining silver before her.

Gently, she lifted the jeweled crown from the box, the light catching it all over, throwing the fragments around the room softly. In the middle, the silver twisted to form the emblem of the Heartless.

Kairi turned her gaze to look at Asi and Ansem, but Asi merely motioned to the next gift. Kairi laid the crown down gently, before turning the next gift. Within it, she found a sparkling scepter, the Heartless emblem on the end, a jewel within it. She held it up for a moment, before lying it down as well, and then opened the last gift. From within it, she pulled a sword, its blade fine and easy for her to handle, the hilt showing their emblem, shining with an invisible light.

"What's all this for?" She asked, glancing up at them again.

"They're for you." Ansem said, as Asi leaned down to pick up the crown, placing it on Kairi's head.

"But why?"

Asi laughed.

"Because you're our Princess, of course."

Kairi nodded, still staring at the other two gifts, before putting her sword down and jumping up, hugging Asi and Ansem in turn. She pulled away from them smiling, before taking her sword and tying it around her waist, then holding her scepter to her. It was with this attire that she turned to face Dyme and Riku, smiling mischievously.

"Now what was it you were saying the other day, about my power not having any meaning?"

Both boys had already picked up their newly obtained weapons, a dangerous look in their eyes. They were actually wary of this girl… Ale and Li Amaru merely watched the display before them. Kairi took a step towards the boys, Dyme and Riku stepping back, holding their weapons up. With a happy laugh, Kairi abandoned all pretenses, holding her scepter up smiling, then running at the boys, both of who turned and ran, Kairi now the one chasing them. Li Amaru sighed, but Ale laughed happily, before turning back to Li Amaru, playing with his new camera.

Asi laughed at the scene, sitting down in his spot beside his Master once more, smiling wickedly.

"I don't think they'll forgive us until next Christmas."

"If they survive that long."

Asi nodded, leaning over some, that wicked smile never leaving his face.

"Of course, this Christmas isn't over yet."

"No, it isn't."

"I told you it'd be fun to celebrate Christmas."

"Though, somehow I remember saying that this didn't include me."

If anything, Asi's smile became all the more wicked.

"Oh honestly, what would Christmas be without all of us? You couldn't have believed that I wouldn't force you into this."

"No, I didn't. I know you too well."

"Lucky you."

Asi laughed as Ansem sighed, turning to watch Ale and Li Amaru, listening to the sounds of the fight that was taking place not far from them. A strange Christmas for one's with strange lives, there was no arguing that. Asi sighed, leaning on Ansem once more.

"It's kind of odd, really. A family of five Heartless, a boy who's in between, and a Princess of Heart…"

Ansem laughed, as Asi smiled.

"That's true. But really, what else would you expect from us?"

"Nothing else…"

And despite the strangeness of the life he now lived, Asi would never have liked it any other way.


End file.
